Florida Senate - 2024                              CS for SB 764
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senator Stewart
       
       
       
       
       
       591-02001-24                                           2024764c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to retention of sexual offense
    3         evidence; amending s. 943.326, F.S.; requiring that
    4         specified sexual offense evidence be retained by
    5         specified entities for a minimum number of years after
    6         the collection date; requiring that such evidence be
    7         stored anonymously in a secure, environmentally safe
    8         manner, and with a documented chain of custody;
    9         providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 943.326, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   14  read:
   15         943.326 DNA evidence collected in sexual offense forensic
   16  physical examinations and investigations.—
   17         (1) A sexual offense evidence kit, or other DNA evidence if
   18  a kit is not collected, must be submitted to a member of the
   19  statewide criminal analysis laboratory system under s. 943.32
   20  for forensic testing within 30 days after:
   21         (a) Receipt of the evidence by a law enforcement agency if
   22  a report of the sexual offense is made to the law enforcement
   23  agency; or
   24         (b) A request to have the evidence tested is made to the
   25  medical provider or the law enforcement agency by:
   26         1. The alleged victim;
   27         2. The alleged victim’s parent, guardian, or legal
   28  representative, if the alleged victim is a minor; or
   29         3. The alleged victim’s personal representative, if the
   30  alleged victim is deceased.
   31         (2) An alleged victim or, if applicable, the person
   32  representing the alleged victim under subparagraph (1)(b)2. or
   33  3. must be informed of the purpose of submitting evidence for
   34  testing and the right to request testing under subsection (1)
   35  by:
   36         (a) A medical provider conducting a forensic physical
   37  examination for purposes of a sexual offense evidence kit; or
   38         (b) A law enforcement agency that collects other DNA
   39  evidence associated with the sexual offense if a kit is not
   40  collected under paragraph (a).
   41         (3)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a collected
   42  sexual offense evidence kit, or other DNA evidence if a kit is
   43  not collected, that is collected from an alleged victim who
   44  reports a sexual offense to a law enforcement agency or who
   45  makes a request, or on whose behalf a request is made, for
   46  testing in compliance with paragraph (1)(b) must be retained in
   47  a secure, environmentally safe manner until the prosecuting
   48  agency has approved its destruction.
   49         (b)1.A sexual offense evidence kit that is collected from
   50  a person who does not report a sexual offense to a law
   51  enforcement agency during the forensic physical examination and
   52  who does not make a request, or have a request made on his or
   53  her behalf, in compliance with paragraph (1)(b) must be retained
   54  for a minimum of 8 years after the collection date by the
   55  medical facility that collected the kit, a certified rape crisis
   56  center with appropriate storage capabilities, or a law
   57  enforcement agency. A sexual offense evidence kit retained
   58  pursuant to this subparagraph must be stored anonymously, in a
   59  secure, environmentally safe manner, and with a documented chain
   60  of custody.
   61         2.If, at any time following the initial retention of a
   62  sexual offense evidence kit pursuant to subparagraph (b)1., an
   63  alleged victim makes a report to a law enforcement agency or
   64  makes a request, or has a request made on his or her behalf, for
   65  testing in compliance with paragraph (1)(b), the kit must be
   66  retained as described in paragraph (a).
   67         (4) The department and each laboratory within the statewide
   68  criminal analysis laboratory system, in coordination with the
   69  Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, shall adopt and
   70  disseminate guidelines and procedures for the collection,
   71  submission, and testing of DNA evidence that is obtained in
   72  connection with an alleged sexual offense. The timely submission
   73  and testing of sexual offense evidence kits is a core public
   74  safety issue. Testing of sexual offense evidence kits must be
   75  completed no later than 120 days after submission to a member of
   76  the statewide criminal analysis laboratory system.
   77         (a) The guidelines and procedures must include the
   78  requirements of this section, standards for how evidence is to
   79  be packaged for submission, what evidence must be submitted to a
   80  member of the statewide criminal analysis laboratory system, and
   81  timeframes for when the evidence must be submitted, analyzed,
   82  and compared to DNA databases.
   83         (b) The testing requirements of this section are satisfied
   84  when a member of the statewide criminal analysis laboratory
   85  system tests the contents of the sexual offense evidence kit in
   86  an attempt to identify the foreign DNA attributable to a
   87  suspect. If a sexual offense evidence kit is not collected, the
   88  laboratory may receive and examine other items directly related
   89  to the crime scene, such as clothing or bedding or personal
   90  items left behind by the suspect. If probative information is
   91  obtained from the testing of the sexual offense evidence kit,
   92  the examination of other evidence should be based on the
   93  potential evidentiary value to the case and determined through
   94  cooperation among the investigating agency, the laboratory, and
   95  the prosecutor.
   96         (c) The department shall, subject to appropriation by the
   97  Legislature, no later than July 1, 2023, create and maintain a
   98  statewide database to track the location, processing status, and
   99  storage of each sexual offense evidence kit collected after the
  100  implementation of the database that is accessible to law
  101  enforcement agencies and alleged victims and other persons
  102  listed in paragraph (1)(b). The database shall track the status
  103  of the kits from the collection site throughout the criminal
  104  justice process, including the initial collection at medical
  105  facilities, inventory and storage by law enforcement agencies or
  106  crime laboratories, analysis at crime laboratories, and storage
  107  or destruction after completion of analysis.
  108         (d) The department shall adopt rules establishing the
  109  requirements for each entity that participates in the database.
  110  Law enforcement agencies, medical facilities, crime
  111  laboratories, and any other facilities that collect, receive,
  112  maintain, store, or preserve sexual offense evidence kits shall
  113  participate in the database, as required by the department.
  114         (e) The department shall ensure that each alleged victim
  115  and other person listed in paragraph (1)(b) is notified of the
  116  existence of the database and provided with instructions on how
  117  to access it and informed that he or she is entitled to access
  118  to information regarding the alleged victim’s sexual offense
  119  evidence kit, including tracking information, testing status,
  120  and any DNA matches to a person deemed by investigators to be a
  121  suspect or person of interest. However, notification of a DNA
  122  match shall state only that a DNA match has occurred and may not
  123  contain any genetic or other identifying information. Such a
  124  notification may be delayed for up to 180 days if such
  125  notification would, in the opinion of investigators, negatively
  126  affect the investigation.
  127         (5) A violation of this section does not create:
  128         (a) A cause of action or a right to challenge the admission
  129  of evidence.
  130         (b) A cause of action for damages or any other relief.
  131         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.